


you're my Jack, that's it

by anonymousskamfrstan



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:08:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29926320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousskamfrstan/pseuds/anonymousskamfrstan
Summary: Season 7, but Max is the central character. Tiff does not have a baby this season and most of this story is AU, but it does have elements from the original season 7. Themes include trans visibility, (toxic) friendships, step-relationships but most of all love <3 Max and Tiff content because we stan them !
Relationships: Max Bernini/Tiffany "Tiff" Prigent
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Lundi | 8:51

It was a breezy day in January. It was Max's first day at the new school. While he was nervous, he also felt relieved that Jo transferred together with him. Unfortunately, Sekou was in Canada, but he would return in two weeks. That made him happier; Sekou was one of his best friends. 

He looked around and didn't seem to notice anyone he actually knew. It made him feel a bit stressed. Suddenly, he felt cold hands on his neck and a loud ''BOO!''

He turned around, looking into Lola's brown eyes. 'Hey Max, how are you?' she asked. 'Ready for today?'

'Not really,' Max responded. 'I'm a bit nervous, but also excited to meet new people.'

Lola's face sunk a little. 'Ugh, most people here suck, especially now that the cool ones have left here anyway. At least you have me and Jo!'

Max nodded, but he felt uncomfortable thinking about French. That was the only class he did not have in common with neither Lola or Jo. He didn't feel like telling Lola about it though, he felt better keeping that to himself. 

'Jo is late, as always,' Lola started, as she took her phone out of her green bag. Max stared at her. She really did change, she wore make-up now, seemed happier in general and he felt happy for her. They did not begin on exactly good terms, but he had managed to accept that Maya was happy with her, even though it was hard for him.

'Hi guys! Sorry I'm late, Solal was screaming again,' Jo showed up, waved and laughed uncontrollably. She wore an orange jacket, which made Max giggle. 

'Did you decide to show up for the Dutch National Team or something?' he said, bursting with laughter. Lola joined aswell, when she noticed Jo's very shiny orange jacket.

'Wha-' Jo started. 'What are you guys on about? I love orange! It looks good on me, see?' and she turned around, with her hands on her jacket. 'I look perfect.'

'Yeah you do, Jo. You really do,' answered Lola. 'Let's go guys, class is starting.'

Max turned neutral again. It was French, the only class without any of them.

Lundi | 9:03

Walking into the class, Max managed to find a spot somewhere in the back. It was behind two guys who were talking about Brazil. One of the guys had semi-long curls and smiled vividly, the other had very short curls, and was dramatic in his hand movements. Max was interested; he had always found geography fascinating and tried to listen carefully. 

'No Redouane, you don't get it! It's important to go to Rio first! Literally the best city there is-' But Max stopped listening.

He stopped listening, because he stared at the door opening. Two girls came in, a blonde one and a brunette one. He recognized the brunette one, it was Tiff and, for some reason, his heart was pounding. She had soft curls, semi-long hair, a black t-shirt and a cute hand-bag on her shoulder. She was smiling at her blonde friend, they were talking about something excited it seemed, but Max was confused with himself. She looked so gorgeous. His heart was now pounding even faster when she walked his way, but she didn't look at him. While walking past him, he could smell her sweet perfume and he closed his eyes softly. She ended up sitting 4 seats away from him, at the other side of the back and he tried to look at her again. 

It was confusing. He knew what she did, she bullied Lola and made an instagram account mocking her. As he got bullied aswell, he felt terrible when that occured, and for that he should hate her, Tiff. But the more he tried to resist, the more he kept looking at her, shyly. She was now opening her French book and tried to find the right page. Her blonde friend pointed at something in the book, which made them both irresistibly laugh again and his heart pounded with everytime he looked back at her. She, thankfully, did not notice. 

'-so make your groups and go!' Max looked up and it seemed that the teacher was already in the room, explaining the details of what should be done in their new assignment. Oh no, he thought. He wasn't paying attention at all. Not to the teacher, at least.

The semi-long curled guy turned around, and smiled and Max. 'Hey! I'm Bilal.' The other guy, who's name seemed to have been Redouane, turned around aswell. 'And I'm Redouane.'

Max smiled, looking at the both of them. His palms were still shaky. 'I'm Max, nice to meet you guys.'

Bilal nodded. 'You wanna be in a group with us? You don't have anyone sitting next to you.' Max nodded. 'Sure!'

While the teacher passed, explaining the group assignment to the three of them, Max suddenly noticed Tiff looking at them, and slowly her eyes faded to his. He was nervous, his heart pounding fast and his palms were getting sweaty. She turned her gaze back to the book and Max was looked back at the teacher, who walked to another table. 

Bilal turned to him again. 'Understood that, fella?' Max nodded, putting up his best smile. 'Yes! Can't wait!' he lied.

Lundi | 11:07

While packing his books in his locker, he noticed Bilal and Redouane walking up to him. They were very nice and he was glad to have met them in the only class he didn't have common with either Lola and Jo. At the same time, he felt sad. He knew why, but didn't want to feel that way. He knew that, if he hadn't met them, he would've tried to talk to others. To someone else. _In particular._

'Do you want to hang out later, Max?' Redouane started. 'We're going to this basketball field-'

'Oeh, sounds great! We'll join!' Jo appeared, out of nowhere, and laughed. Bilal smiled her way and Redouane pointed at her jacket. 'Cool jacket you got there.'

Jo slapped him on his shoulder. 'THANK YOU! I swear- Max and Lola both hated this jacket, you're the first one to compliment it!'

'Okay but that's because-' Max started, but Bilal interrupted him.

'Screw them, you have us now.' Jo laughed, shaking her head and high-fiving Bilal. 'I'll see you guys later then, basketball field it is!'

Lundi | 16:19

Max sat comfortably on the couch at the basketball field. He looked at the game that was currently going on, which contained Lola and Bilal versus Redouane and Maya. Lola and Bilal were with a big lead, mostly because Maya was complaining with back problems. 

Turning around, his face stood still. Jo was arriving, she was late, but she wasn't alone. It was a big distance, but he could notice her. Why did Jo bring Tiff? At one side, Max didn't want to know, but at another, his heart was pounding with excitement. He hated himself for it.

The others also stopped with basketball, as they noticed who the person was Jo was bringing along. 

'God no, fucking hell.' Lola started, as Maya put her arm around her shoulder. 

Max understood her, completely, but a sense in his head screamed something different. As they approached, he admired her gorgeous hair, face, her beautiful green eyes, she wore a blue jacket with a clutch-bag and was, noticably, nervous.

'Okay, everyone, meet Tiff!' Jo screamed as she pointed at Tiff. No one said anything. Redouane and Bilal stared uncomfortably at Tiff, Maya kept comforting Lola who was rolling her eyes. Tiff stared at all of them and, finally, at him. Their eyes met and Max felt this rush in his throat. He couldn't explain, it was so odd, but he felt emotions he had not felt in a long time. They awoke even more when she gave him a tiny smile. 

'Alright alright, what is going on?' Jo moved her hands up and forward and sounded a little angry. 'Am I not allowed to bring in guests?'

'Oh yes you are,' Bilal started. 'I'm just confused why you decided to bring in the exact girl who bullied Lola last year.' Redouane nodded in agreement, but Lola and Maya remained still. 

'That is, because, I think everyone deserves a second chance, no?' Max's mind agreed to that. 

'I also think so,' Bilal continued. 'But not before she apologizes-'

'It's okay,' her voice gave a relaxing sound in Max's ears that made him feel comfortable, at home. 'I just wanna sit down, anyway. You guys can continue the game.' Tiff walked over to Max and sat down next to him, not looking him in the eye, but looking at the field. Her perfume was so sweet, but smelled like heaven. She smelled like heaven. She sat next to him. Of all people. He sat so incredibly still that you could think he would be a statue. 

'Alright Tiff, I'll do the game then.' The 5 of them were talking out which teams to pick, when Tiff initiated the conversation.

'Don't you want to play?' she turned to look at him. He looked back and stared right at her green eyes. They looked so heavenly between the afternoon light. She smiled and looked away, shyly moving her feet. 

'I don't,' Max started, trying to sound as normal as possible. 'Don't like basketball that much, anyway.'

'Understandable, me neither.'

He didn't know what to say. He was so confused why she was here in the first place. She was staring at the game, that just begun. 

'Why are you here?' Oh god. Oh no. He knew that was a bad question, the moment she turned around. Her smile faded a little and she started to look a little bit sad. He regretted it immediately and wanted to punch himself in the face.

'Am I not allowed to make new friends?' That question was the last question he expected to be thrown at him. Her smile came back, as she watched the game vividly. He realized she had thought a moment for her answer, and that it was probably not the answer she meant to give.

'Ofcourse you are,' he started, also looking at the game, because he was too shy to look at her. 'I'm just confused, that's all. Especially because I didn't think you liked us.'

'I don't even know you guys, so why would I not like you?'

He really didn't know what to say. He felt like throwing up, but in a good way, if that even made sense.

'Well you know Lola..'

'Please stop.' She had said that in such a movement, that Max didn't dare to say anything the rest of the game. It was okay though. He could enjoy her presence, while pretending to be interested in the game. 


	2. Chapter 2

Mardi | 03:57

_I don't even know you guys, so why would I not like you?_

Those words kept running through Max's head. He was awake, laying on his soft bed, staring at the ceiling.

It was strange, he thought. Strange that she decided to tag along with Jo. She may not have known them that well, but she certainly knew who they were. It was inevitable, he thought. His mind wandered to her sweet perfume. She smelled like a mixture between roses on the brightest day of Spring and calm tones of the sweetness of Summer. Her eyes. Those eyes. He could stare all day in them, they were beautiful. 

He didn't like where this was going. Ever since he and Maya broke up, Max was not doing well in the love. Jo and Sekou had often gotten him dates, but they all bailed out the moment they heard he was trans. 

' _It has nothing to do with you being trans, it's just...'_ That was always their reaction. Max had gotten used to it, but it still stung him. He was a guy, he was just born unlucky, very unlucky, but that didn't make him any less of a guy. 

He turned around on the bed. All the dates they had gotten him didn't give him the same feeling as he had gotten with Maya. Or Tiff..

No stop, he told himself. He was just attracted to her, that was all. A normal attraction, everyone has that once in a while, right?

But she was so gorgeous..

And with that, he finally managed to fall asleep.

Mardi | 15:06

Bilal and Redouane were so well accepted in the group, that Jo suggested to add them into the instagram groupchat. Max was okay with it, they were fun and nice and with Sekou gone he could really use another guy in the group.

_notification_

Max looked up on his phone. It was an e-mail, sending the courtdate of his gender approval. He let out a sigh.

'What's wrong?' Maya asked. They were hanging around a children's playground. Jo and Lola were on the swing, while Redouane and Bilal were playing 1 on 1 soccer.

'Nothing. It's just the courtdate got send to me. Not looking forward to it.' Which was true, he wasn't looking forward to it. A bunch of old people deciding what his gender was going to be? Yikes.

Maya put her hand on his shoulder, caressing it gently. 'Don't be upset, Max. It's going to be fine and you know it. Want me to accompany you? Anyone else?'

Max shook his head. 'I think it's best if I go alone. I don't want to seem insecure.' He stared at the ground, kicking a few little rocks forward. 'It's going to be stressful working towards the date itself, but I think it will be okay it the end, you know?'

Maya winked with both her eyes at the same time, showing that she understands. 'It will definitely!'

On that moment, Bilal and Redouane came walking towards them. 'We lost the ball-' Bilal started, but Redouane spoke through him.

'What are you guys talking about?' he asked, gazing at both Maya and Max. 'Seemed pretty serious, no?'

'If it's serious, you should enlighten us!' Bilal put his left foot on the bench and showcased his arms. 'We will help, we are here for you Max!'

Max nodded. He didn't tell them that he was trans, he didn't feel the need to. Why should he? None of their business.. 

Maya understood his message. 'It was about something serious yes, but we want to keep it between us.'

Bilal put his foot away. 'Okay, yeah, I get that. If you need help though-'

'Then I will be surely to ask you firstly, Bilal.' Max answered, smiling. 

'FOUND IT!' Lola screamed at Bilal and Redouane as she shot the missing ball up in the air, and they ran like lost sheep behind it. Maya laughed, gave Max a final hug and followed. Jo, who seemed exhausted, came sulking towards Max, ending on the bench with her feet in the air, looking like she was half asleep.

It was at this moment that Max was thinking of asking her. Jo seemed to already have half guessed.

'What?' she sat up. 'What is going through your mind, Maxou?'

'Why did you bring her yesterday?'

'Who? Tiff?' Max nodded. Jo giggled, very loudly. 'Eh, she needed some distraction.'

'And you think she got that? No one here seemed to have wanted to see her, no?'

'Well, they'll get past it eventually, so..'

'No, Jo!' Max turned around, to stare her right in her eyes, trying to get across as serious as he knew that Jo found it hard to see when someone was being serious.

'They won't eventually get past it, no one is as easy at forgiving people like you so-'

'EH EH EH!' Jo said out loud. 'What is your problem, dude? I think you are the only one here who didn't want her back, the way you talk. Even Lola didn't care as much-'

'What? Ofcourse she did, she just didn't tell you. The girl bullied her last year.' 

Jo bit her lip, but seemed to remain calm. 'What is your problem, Max, seriously? Is no one allowed to have a second chance?'

'Ofcourse they do, she does aswell, I'm just afraid the group won't take it-'

'They took it well, didn't they? They didn't jump her or anything? I see that as an absolute win.'

'Okay so for you to see it as an absolute win would be for them not to get violent at her?'

'I'm tired, Max. Can we talk about this another time? I didn't know you disliked her that much, I'll try to avoid bringing her when you're around if you care that much,' as Jo answered this, she lay her head on Max's lap and closed her eyes.

Jo had no idea how wrong she was.

Mardi | 21:45

Walking through the city, Max felt the cold January breeze flowing through his hair. He felt good. He wore his favorite comfy jacket, his favorite sneakers and felt like nothing could go wrong. Jo asked La Mif if they wanted to hang out tonight, but they all had plans. Max did not, but he wanted to be alone for the evening, just to enjoy the evening for a bit. It felt like he was with La Mif every day, and while that was great, he also valued his own space. 

As he walked, he saw the Seine coming up. It was such a beautiful river, he thought. Then he stopped. He noticed a girl sitting on the edge at the river, staring at the sea and the bridge ahead of them. What was she doing here? His heart pounded, and told him to continue, but his mind wasn't sure of this idea.

Max decided to go for it, he had already missed various opportunities in life because of his doubtful decisions. What was the worst that could go wrong? While he did have this mentality, he still felt incredibly nervous and stressed out.

He sat next to her, as he could inhale her oh so sweet perfume. Tiff didn't move, she simply turned her head slowly and smiled at seeing Max. She was wearing somewhat the same outfit as yesterday, only today, she wore a cute white hat on top of her gorgeous, curly hair.

It was quiet for at least 2 minutes, until Tiff ended up initiating the conversation.

'It's gorgeous, isn't it? The view?'

Max stared at her. Was she talking about herself? Because he agreed.

'I didn't picture you as a girl staring at the river at 10 pm, if I'm being honest.' It slipped so quickly out of his mouth, but to his amazement, she giggled.

'Oh then what do you picture me as?'

'I didn't mean it like th-'

'No tell me, now I'm curious,' she answered, as she gave him a wide smiling side glance. 

'The perfect girl next door,' Max answered, as he stared to his shoes. It was not the answer he thought she wanted to receive, but it was honest. 'Because you really seem to be.'

He could sense her smile fading a little.

'I'm not. I wish I was. I think life would be so much easier.'

'Life is so hard, for everyone. I sometimes forget that too.' He shuffled a little with his feet. 

Tiff looked up to the dark sky, but didn't say anything. 

'I didn't mean to come off as rude yesterday,' he started. He wanted to talk to her, befriend her, maybe even more..

And he knew it was not going to happen if he was behaving like an idiot.

'You did not come off as rude, don't worry.'

'That makes me happy, thank you.' She smiled back at him. 

'Well, you seemed the only one, besides Jo, willing to talk to me so that's a start.'

'They just need to understand that people change, I guess.'

'Change?' He heard emotions in the way she said it. 

He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, how she made his heart race, how she seemed to be the most gorgeous girl on this planet.

'The Lola situation,' he answered, he did not want to, but he figured she needed an answer.

'Ah, you're right. Honestly, my mind is occupied with other things right now, but I will definitely give her a decent apology soon. I was in the wrong, I was not a good person.'

'But don't you think it's better to do it as soon as possible?'

She looked at him, examining every inch of his face. 'You think so?'

'I think she'll appreciate that, yes. Especially if you keep hanging with Jo.'

'What if I keep hanging with you?'

Max his throat felt like it went into his stomach. The feeling was so strong that he did not manage to say anything. Luckily, Tiff didn't notice.

She stared back at the river. 'I am very aware that what I did towards Lola was wrong, I'm just not sure how to approach the situation, because, frankly, I wouldn't even forgive myself if I were in her shoes.'

'Don't think like that,' Max managed to get out of his grip. 'I am sure you will do well.'

Tiff smiled at him again. 'I never realized how cool you were, wow.' 

Max his throat started again, but so did his heart, as it pounded harder than ever.

'I have to go,' she said as she stood up. Max did aswell. 

'Want me to walk you home?' 

'I'd love that, yes.'

During the walk, Tiff explained a lot about school, how she enjoyed it, her friends. Max was listening, she could talk about literal bricks and he would find it interesting. 

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a very big house. 

'It's here,' she said. 'Thanks for me walking me home, Max.'

'No problem, glad you got here safe.'

'You really are sweet.' She winked at him, turned around and went back into the house.

Max his heart finally stopped pounding as hard as it did for the last 20 minutes. 


	3. Chapter 3

Mercredi | 9:53 

French class again and he was so excited for it. He decided to sit more to the front this time, so that she could notice him right away. 

Her blonde friend did walk into the class, but Tiff was nowhere to be seen. 

As the teacher closed the door, his mind wandered to her. 

Why is she not at school today? Did it have to do with their conversation yesterday? Did it have to do with her sitting on a river's edge on 10 pm in the evening?

Why was she sitting there anyway..? Max's mind went forward with theories that kept clamping on his heart; it was painful.

The teacher ended up leaving the classroom for her toilet break, which made Max open his phone real quick. He knew what he wanted to do.

He saw Bilal's messages, him and Redouane sat at the back again.

_Hey Max._

_HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY_

_Are you not coming to sit with us?_

_Why do you sit at the front, bro!!!!_

_COME HERE_

He was laughing. Bilal was something else.

_Just a moment, will be right there._

As he closed his messages app, he opened Instagram. He was nervous. There was so much that could go wrong, but his heart told him differently.

_Do it, Max. Do it._

He let out a sigh and typed Queen T in the search bar.

By the letter 'Q' she already appeared. 

Max knew he was guilty of stalking her before, thus knowing her instagram username and the way she appeared firstly with the letter Q. He never really knew why he looked at her instagram page, but now it all came back to him and he realized what was in his mind.

Hesitantly, he clicked on _follow._ Immediately he closed her page and went to his own. Now she would see his name and would probably look at his page. What would she see?

The last thing he posted was him posing in a trans flag. Tiff did not know he was trans and he was not sure how she would react. It could be positive, it could be horror..

As the teacher approached the classroom again, he closed his phone, put his books back into his bag and walked over to Bilal and Redouane.

Mercredi | 13:18

'What's this?' Max unfolded a wrapped paper. Jo had handed over a handwritten letter that no one but Jo could read. Her handwriting was worse than the most shivering doctor in the world. 

'It's for you silly!' she sat next to him on the bench. They were out in the school yard, as their last lesson had just finished. 'It's for the court. Those idiots need to hurry or I'll slap some sense in them.'

'Thanks Jo, but do you think this would help? A letter? What does it even say?' he tried to say as normal as possible, but ended up giggling as he tried to read the letter, noticing it was clearly unreadable.

'Okay so,' Jo started, 'I just wrote down that you're a guy. Very simple yet very detailed. Those bastards will catch these hands if they don't agree-'

'You don't know how much I appreciate you, Jo,' Max felt himself tearing up a little. Jo had been his best friend for so long, she was his world. 

'Ah, come here you!!' and she hugged him very tightly. 

As she let go, he received a notification. He grabbed his phone and saw that Tiff followed him back. A smile jump in his heart made his mind wander off..

Jo grabbed his phone faster than he could contain it.

'Who- oh.' He grabbed it back, but Jo already saw what it was. 'Why are you following her on instagram? I thought you did not like her?'

'I never said I did not like her, you made that up.'

'You made it PRETTY clear though.'

'No I did not.' 

Jo grabbed an apple and bit in it. 'Hmmm, yes you did. You were angry I invited her.'

Max raised his eyebrows. 'What? No, I was just looking out for Lola. I was very happy she was there-' Oh no. Oh no no no..

Max his mind felt shut, but Jo had noticed. 

'Happy she was there? HAPPY SHE WAS THERE?'

'Eh, in a good sense, I mean-'

'Hahaha, I was just messing with you,' she answered as she continued to eat her apple and grabbed her own phone. Max was relieved.

Even moreso because she followed him. That means she saw all his pictures. Of La Mif. Of him singing. Of him posing with the trans flag. Did that mean she was okay with it?

He hated thinking like this. If she was not okay with it, she is horrible. But he could not help but think of her and that is what turned him so crazy, even though he only knew her for 2 days.

And where was she today anyways?

His initial plan of asking Jo had faded after the small incident, he decided to text Tiff later. And boy, he was looking forward to it.

Mercredi | 19:47

Max had just finished dinner when he saw his phone lighting up. Was it _her?_

Sadly, it wasn't.

Jo: _Who wants to hang out right now?_

Maya: _Me and Lola are doing a movie night together, so no sorry._

Jo: _You guys are so unavailable lately, it SUCKS!!!_

Bilal: _It's called being in a relationship Jo_

Jo: _Like you have experience, HUH_

Bilal: _I do, but not on a positive note_

Max was smiling, but he opened Instagram, as he wanted to know. Where had she been?

Clicking on the 'sent messages' box, he founded himself to be very anxious. What if she didn't respond? What if she didn't even read his messages?

Come on Max.. he thought. 

With a very heavy sigh, he started typing.

_Hey Tiffany, it's me, Max._

It's me Max? Ofcourse she knew that was him, it literally says so on his profile. God, he found himself dumb.

_Hey Tiffany, I noticed you were not in class today, are you okay? You don't have to tell me, but if something is bothering you, I'm here_

He clicked send as fast as he could and regretted it instantly. It sounded so horrendous.

To his amazement, she immediately came online and read it.

Sweat was dripping on his forehead and he was so unbelieveable nervous. He was shaking inside and felt like it had been under 20 degrees, but at the same time, he felt like burning.

Finally, she had sent it.

_Hey Max, really kind of you to ask me that. I didn't feel good, that's all, a few things have been bothering me lately, but I'd rather not annoy you with that. Did I miss anything important?_

She's not annoying him. Not at all. Why would she think that?

_No you didn't. Also, you're not annoying me. Really. Sorry if I made you feel that way_

He was acting so stupid and he was sure she could sense it through the phone.

Tiff had replied and.. it was a message he had never expected.

_Do you want to hang out tonight? At yours?_

He was trembling so much that his phone slipped out of his hands. 

Hesitantly, he grabbed his phone again, thinking of what to send.

_Sure, I'll send you the adress right away_

_Thank you, see you later !_

I need to shower, was his first instinct. He had sweated so much that you would think he came off a 90 minute professional football match.

Mercredi | 21:06

'Welcome!' He had opened the door and there she stood, with her clutchbag. She had shorter hair now, but looked a lot more gorgeous and Max felt like crying, in a good sense. 

'Thanks,' she answered as she walked past him, smelling like the perfume Max loved to inhale. Tiff looked around.

Max's room was dominantly packed with posters, mostly from his favorite bands and artists, but he also had a lot of trans and rainbow flags lying around as well as a small fridge in the corner of his room. His two person bed took up most of the space in his room.

Tiff sat on his bed, leaning against the back of it. 'Your bedroom is huge.'

'Yes,' he replied, as he took two soda's out of the fridge. 'That is why my kitchen and bathroom are much smaller, or I could not have afforded it.'

He walked towards her and sat next to her on the bed, also leaning against the back of it. He gave her a soda and she mumbled a small 'thanks' as she opened it and took a sip. 

'Why do you live alone anyways? Sick of your parents?'

Max did not know what to say. Actually, he did not want to say it. He figured being honest with her.

'Honestly, I don't want to say it just yet..'

She looked at him. 'That's fine, don't worry.' 

His stomach relaxed again and his heart started making kilometers. It has been 2 days, but this feeling kept coming up and it was bothering him to no extent, but it also felt like the best feeling in the world..

'What do you want to do? Watch a movie?'

'Oh sure, what do you have?'

'Eh, let's see,' he tried to relax his fingers, but his hands were too shaky to relax. His sideglances told him that Tiff kept staring at the room and not at his trembling fingers. 

Suddenly, she asked something he was not prepared for.

'What does the blue-pink flag stand for?'

He shivered. His throat stood still and his hands stopped trembling, but so did the rest of his body.

Tiff looked at him and he nearly drowned in her green eyes. She was simply _so gorgeous.._

'I saw it on your instagram too.' She stalked his instagram? An erupture of fire sprung in his heart, whereas the feeling seemed to have flown from his head to the rest of his body.

'It's the trans flag. It stands for the T in LGBTQ+, which in turn stands for trans people,' he tried to say it as clearly as possible, but he was shaking even his voice and he knew she must have noticed.

'Ah, okay,' she nodded, as she took another sip. 'Cool.'

_Cool._

His mind was on another dimension now, he felt it.

'I'm trans aswell.'

It slipped so easily that he hated his tongue for actually making it slip. Why? Why did he have to say that? She probably already knew. So why? His own behavior kept confusing him.

Tiff stared at him, but it wasn't a negative one. She examined him, but did it in a way he felt comfortable with and he could not explain why. 

'I like how we are learning more about each other,' she finally ended up saying, ending with a smile.

Max's heart raced up again. It was the best answer he could have asked for. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: chapter contains a reference to transphobia.

Jeudi | 05:57

He woke up, tired and sweaty from overthinking the entire night. Tiff had stayed untill 1 AM, they had watched Intouchables together. It was a nice movie and he remembered her various comments as they watched, her smile was everything.

Her favorite movie was Titanic, she mentioned it at the end of Intouchables. ' _I'm a sucker for romantic movies, honestly,'_ she answered while laughing abruptly.

It was everything, were his thoughts. Her laugh. Her smile. Her eyes. _Everything._

But he also knew, aside from his attraction to her, that she had bullied Lola and it bothered him incredibly much. Those feelings were immensely drafting to his head, various ones thinking of her being his girlfriend and the other ones of the kind of person she had been.

_She had been._

She changed, did she not? He was not sure. Sure, she was gorgeous and _seemed_ to have changed, but that was just his heart being biased. From an unbiased point of view, she is still the person who made an instagram account bullying his friend. Told her to kill herself. 

He put his hands on his face and let out a deep sigh. _Why me? Why is this happening to me?_

Jeudi | 12:21

The weather was windy, but the surroundings felt very warm for the month January. Not a lot of people were outside, which made Max feel comfortable as he had this perfect idea inside his head. Lola stood next to him as they both leaned against the wall, staring at the first-years playing various games.

'One of my old friends have started dating someone that.. I'm not _particularly_ fond of,' he said, his lie sounding as believeably as he could. 

'Oh,' Lola started, as she continued eating her yoghurt. 'Why are you not fond of them?'

'They have.. sort of.. bullied me in the past..' Max said it with tensions in his voice, he knew that this way Lola would take it seriously, even though it was not true and he just wanted to see her reaction.

Lola, on the other hand, kept eating her yoghurt and started staring at the ground. 

'Well, that's their decision, no? Do you think they are going to get hurt?'

'No, but I mean,' he continued, looking at her anxiously, not sure why she said what she had said. 'I did not think they would do that, knowing what they did to me.'

Lola put down the spoon in her yoghurt and moved her head so that she was directly staring into his eyes. 

'Well, I don't know, I'm not exactly the best person to help you with that, perhaps Maya-'

'But imagine if one of La Mif started crushing on Tiff for example-'

He interrupted her so quickly that he was ashamed. His hands started sweating again as his palms were getting shaky and he avoided Lola's glare, staring at the surroundings of the empty ground, because the first years had gone inside.

Lola started laughing. Max was confused, he was being serious.

'It wasn't meant to be funny-'

'I know, I just don't think anyone from La Mif is stupid enough to fall for that girl.'

Max sensed his stomach turning around and wanted to go home. He felt miserable. How could she say something like that? No one chooses to fall in love?

'You can't choose who to fall in love with though.'

'Oh for sure, but if you fall in love with _Tiff_ from all people, you have to get yourself checked, _I mean..'_

Max stared back to the ground as Lola continued to eat her yoghurt. There really was no one to talk to for him..

Jeudi 14:52

'Hiya there!' Bilal came sitting across Max at the computer hall. Max looked up and put his headphones away, smiling back to Bilal. 

'Hey Bilal, how are you?'

'I'm good, what are you doing?' Bilal said, as he switched the computer on. 

Max didn't respond. The truth was that he was researching what to do if the court did not approve of his gender status. Bilal did not know he was trans, so Max was not too sure to tell him what he was doing.

Bilal noticed his behavior.

'Eh!' he said, looking from behind his computer and putting a hand on Max's arm. 'You do not have to tell me! I just, wanted to make conversation, you know?'

Max knew that Bilal would probably be very supportive of him, but he still didn't feel comfortable telling him yet. He appreciated Bilal's patience. 

'What are you doing, Bilal?'

He looked up. 'I'm just researching a bit to see if I can find a good sports academy, that's my thing, you get me?'

'For sure,' Max replied. He remembered Bilal's energy during the basketball match. 'You were the best during the game.'

'Haha, thanks dude! And you? What do you like?'

'Eh-'

_notification_

Without hesitation he grabbed his phone to look. Tiff had send him an instagram message.

_Want to hang out tommorow?_

He couldn't control himself and a big smile appeared. Bilal noticed it, as he looked suspiciously at Max.

'I know what's happening.'

'W-what?' Max put down his phone and looked around, confusingly. 'What do you mean?' 

'There,' as Bilal pointed at the phone. 'You've got a boyfriend!'

Max did not know what to say, although he was glad that he did not mention anything about Tiff.

'Boyfriend?'

'Isn't everyone in La Mif gay of some sort?'

Max giggled. 'No, Jo is straight, Sekou is straight as well-'

'Who's that?'

'He's left for a while, but he'll be back and he was an old member of La Mif.'

'Ah okay,' Bilal straightened up. 'I didn't mean to assume anything-'

'As for me, I have not fallen in love with men yet, but I don't like labeling myself in a specific way.'

'Yeah I get that,' Bilal nodded understandably. 

Suddenly, Max's mind went back to Tiff. He totally forgot to reply.

_Sure, my place?_

She immediately came online, Max lit up of joy.

_Actually, I have another idea. I'll send you the location tommorow, 18:30 pm?_

_Nice! Can't wait_

_Me neither_

Max's heart felt like it was on fire. Bilal smiled at him.

'I will keep my mouth shut this time,' he winked.

Max gave him a high-five. 'You better!'

Jeudi | 23:11

_notification_

Max rose up from his bed. He was so incredibly tired. Ever since he had met Tiff his mind felt like she needed to be the centre of it. Not that he minded it..

Grabbing his phone he noticed who it was and felt like puking.

_Mom: Are you coming home for the weekend?_

No, Mom, no. Never. 

Max put his phone away and put his head on his pillow. 

When he came out to his parents, they were supportive. They were not exactly jumping the ground, but they tried to understand. Asking questions, going to different people to ask for the procedure. He felt like they had his back.

A year later, however, they divorced and his father moved away, with his mother getting a new boyfriend.

That boyfriend was the _worst person_ Max had ever met..

He was an extreme right-wing kind of guy who was not religious, but nevertheless, saw Max as commiting a huge 'sin'. He even suggested-

No stop, don't think of that.

But it was too late and his tears fell out of his eyes..

Quickly, think of something nice!

With Tiff's eyes in his mind, he fell asleep shortly. 


	5. Chapter 5

Vendredi 14:10

It had been a stressful day as Max was nervous about his upcoming English exam. He sat quietly, leaning against his own locker when he heard _her_. That magical voice. The one that he would also hear tonight.

'-no but Anaïs, I'm fine really.'

'No you're not, you are treating me like a weirdo from Tinder!'

What was going on? Trying to look past the corner of the lockerside where he sat, he saw Tiff, a brunette girl and the blonde one from French. Tiff looked as gorgeous as always, clearly outshining the other two.

'I'm not in a good place right now-'

'But that's where you have us! We're your friends!'

Max started to get irritated by this Anaïs girl. Clearly she was not very smart.

He suddenly got an idea, but his anxiety told him not to do it.

'Sometimes I just want to keep things to myself, it's normal-'

'No! We're BFFs!'

Max stood up and walked over to the three of them. The blonde was the first one to notice, as she raised her eyebrows and gave Anaïs a little pat, nodding towards Max.

'Tiff, weren't you going to help me with French?' he lied.

At that moment, Tiff looked at him and his chest began burning again. 

'Who are you?' Anaïs asked.

'She's helping me with French-'

'No she's not, she has never even talked to you,' the blonde began. Max looked at her. The girl had blonde, straight hair and a designer jacket. She reminded Max of one of those annoying girls from his old high school who were obsessed with annoying other people and meddling in their business, kind of what she was doing right now.

'I talked to him outside of French,' Tiff finally said, still staring at Max. 'He told me he was not doing well with his grades.'

Anaïs stared at Max, examining him from top to bottom.

'Who are you?' she asked again.

'Max,' he replied as calmly as he could, because from the inside he was burning with desire as he sensed Tiff was still staring at him and had not stopped.

'She is not interested,' said Anaïs in a very firm tone. Max raised his left eyebrow.

'What do you mean?'

'She's not interested in you.'

Tiff finally broke the stare and kicked Anaïs, which she was not happy about.

'Uhm OUCH! What was that necessary for?'

'You're being rude for no reason.'

'Rude for no r- ME?'

Anaïs let out a very deep, irritated sigh, grabbed her bag, rolled her eyes and walked away. The blonde girl, who Max still does not know the name of and from who he does not need to know the name of, gave him one last vicious look as she also grabbed her back and walked after Anaïs.

'You have no idea how thankful I am,' she said, as she put her hand on his hand. For a moment, Max doubted to put his arms around her and put his lips on hers, they were pink-red today and he noticed it varied daily, but he decided not to. Not only because school is not a romantic place, but because he's not sure if she would want the same and he did not want to scare her, although the feelings in his body were flaming him up so much that he didn't recognize himself anymore.

Tiff put her hand away and grabbed her bag.

'I'll see you tonight!'

'Yes, see you.'

He watched her leave, as he couldn't hide his smile. She was simply _breathtaking._

'-Hello?'

Jo stood in front of him, waving her hands in front of his face, with a confused look on hers.

'Eh, yeah, hi Jo,' he responded, ashamed because she clearly saw the look on his face.

'Are you in love or something? The last time I saw you looking like that was with May-'

'Eh no! I would've told you otherwise, you know that.'

'Well, you always like to keep things hidden to yourself...,' Jo said slowly.

'And what's that supposed to mean?' Max felt himself getting angry and he knew that this was not Jo's fault, but he simply did not like the way she was talking right now. She meant well, but Max's emotions wanted to be left alone. 

'Nothing,' Jo backed off. 'Sorry I didn't mean to-'

'No it's my fault, I-,' he sighed. 'Sorry!' He gave her a tight hug. 'I'm sorry I'm just stressed, that's all.'

'I know, Max. I know.'

Vendredi | 18:28

Angels might not exist, but if Max had to pick one a human closest to resemblance, he was sure to pick Tiffany Prigent. She had invited him to a cozy restaurant in the suburbs of Paris and he noticed her arriving, with a beautiful, black dress, hair loose, but less curls this time and more styled, a little bit of eyeliner with the same make-up as always and he felt like collapsing. It was getting very unhealthy.

'Hey,' she said. 'Are you ready to go in?'

'Y-yes,' he was incredibly nervous and felt like she might notice.

As they walked in, Max inhaled the smell of sushi.

'Are we going to eat sushi?'

'If you want!' Tiff smiled. 'It's delicious, don't you think?'

She walked over to a small table at a corner, with a big view on the rest of the suburbs.

'Eh sure, but uhm-'

As he sat on the chair to join her, he was not sure how to tell her. Her smile slightly faded as her lips curled up.

'What's wrong? You don't like sushi?'

'No I do, it's just-'

He let out a heavy sigh.

'I think I might be a bit too broke for restaurant quality sushi,' he whispered it as he leaned in towards her ear. Not only to get the message across, but also to smell her sweet perfume again.

'Don't worry Max, it's on me.'

'Really? But-'

'Unless you really want to pay along?'

Max didn't say anything.

'Hahahaha,' she found it very funny apparently, and Max just adored the sound of her laughter; it was music to his ears.

The waitress came and they both ordered a big menu. Max felt ashamed about it, as he did not want her to pay for everything. How was he going to make that clear without looking desperate?

'Thanks again for today, I was not in the mood for Anaïs. Not for Louise either though,' she started, staring him directly in the eye, but not in a bad way, he felt comfortable with it.

'I was going to say something, but you might get mad at me for it...' he shuffled his legs as he was thinking about telling her what was in his mind.

'-Go ahead?'

'Why are you even friends with them? They seem.. kind of mean.'

Tiff's glare went to the table; it was clear she felt uncomfortable with the question.

'They're my friends and, sometimes, they can be mean yeah.'

'I just thought-'

'You just thought what?' Tiff snapped, staring back at him again. 'You're being super nice to me after the shit I did towards Lola last year, but just for a few stupid remarks from them you automatically put them off?'

Max felt overthrown. His stomach turned and he felt like bursting, he had made her mad he just knew it. The last thing he had ever wanted to do at her.

Tiff continued. 'If you're gonna hate on anyone it should be me, not them.'

Silence.

Max did not know what to say. He felt like if he said anything, at all, she would find a way to attack again.

After a few more silences, he opened his mind.

'Why you?'

'Haven't you paid attention?'

At that moment, the waitress came with their food. It looked delicious, but Max was not hungry.

'I have paid attention,' he said, as Tiff took a bite of her sushi plate. 'I think people can change, though.'

Tiff looked at him. 

'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lashed out on you like that-'

'It's fine, I understand. How does it taste?'

'Amazing!' she giggled as she too another bite.

Max suddenly felt better and took a bite of his sushi too.

Even with all the sushi in her mouth, he still felt the desperate urge to kiss her.

_notification_

_Piece of sh*t stepdad:_ _Come here, it's urgent. And don't give me pathethic excuses_


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: small mention of transphobia.   
> I decided to make small mentions of transphobia in this story, not for story purposes, but because people, sadly, experience such a thing daily and I want Max's season to be relatable, as hard as it may be. I hope it's understandable.

(continuation of chapter 5 directly, so no timestamp)

Max's face turned white. The boyfriend of his mother was named _Piece of sh*t stepdad_ in his contacts. Also, what is so incredibly urgent? He felt rage coming up.

Tiff had clearly noticed Max's behavior and looked worried.

'Are you oka-'

'I need to go,' without hesitation he grabbed his coat from his chair and walked away.

You goddamn fucking idiot, he thought as he ran towards his mom's house. He thought that about himself, as he left Tiff alone without an explanation, but the description also perfectly fit his gross stepdad. 

His mom and her boyfriend lived a few streets further away in Paris, yet he never really visited them because he hated the thought of seeing his stepdad. Everytime he went there, he had something horrible to say.

Finally, he had arrived. Grabbing the key from his coat he opened the door and looked inside.

It was fairly quiet. As he kept walking towards the living room, he had begun to hear noises. 

'-why'd you have to message him like that though.' He heard the sound of his mother's voice as he entered the living room.

There they were. His mother, with shoulder-length blonde hair and a black t-shirt, sitting in her armchair opposite of the TV. She was a fairly attractive woman and he never understood what she saw in the guy she was with right now.

The guy himself was tall and had greasy, curly grey hair as well as various tattoos on his arms, which were not enough for a sleeve yet. He had brown eyes, but they seemed to turn red everytime he saw Max. He stood in the corner, with eyes filled with rage now glaring at Max.

'Hi mom,' Max said shortly, as he walked over to her and giving her a tight hug. She always smelled like very strong perfume, not the nice one of Tiff, but it's his mom so he could bear it. 

As he let go, he looked at his stepdad. His name was Louis and he was a police officer. 

'No hi to me? Seems like you have not changed,' he growled. 

'Eh, okay, hi,' Max responded irritably. 'Happy now?'

'Don't you set a tone with me,' Louis grabbed a hold of the window bar. 

Max raised his eyebrow; the man had serious issues.

'I'm glad you're here my dear,' Max's mom caressed his left cheek as Max kept glaring at Louis. 'How are you? School and everything?'

'Good, but,' Max had stopped.

'Yes?'

'What's the emergency? Why did he text me to come, urgently?'

'HE-' Louis screamed. 'did that, because her poor little _boy_ did not have the courage to text her back when she asked him to come home for the weekend.'

The little emphasis on _boy_ made Max fill with rage again. He knew that the reason his stepdad keeps using those terms is not because he did not believe in trans people, but because he wanted to make him feel like shit.

It especially made him feel like shit, because ever since he had switched schools 3 years ago, he had never encountered any transphobia ever again. That was until his mom met the son of a bitch-

'I was busy,' Max stood up, thus facing him directly. 'I have a life outside of being home all the time, you know?'

'Good for you,' Louis walked past Max, as Max turned his gaze to his mom again. He heard the stairs and knew he must have pissed him off, which made him feel good. It made him feel like he won.

'Max, my darling,' his mother caressed his arm now, but Max loosened himself.

'Why is he so incredibly transphobic?'

His mother looked shocked.

'He's not transphobic, my dear. He just doesn't understand you're behavior towards him which-'

'Which makes him transphobic.'

'No. He is not transphobic.'

'Then why does he keep saying those horrible things to me? To make me feel like shit on purpose?'

'I will talk to him, my dear-'

'How about you just leave him?' 

He saw her eyes getting watery, but he felt no empathy. Not now.

Max felt a burning rage in him that felt like only actual water could stop the flames from burning. He felt angry. He felt dizzy. He felt like punching everything at once. 

'Max, I am not going to leave hi- where are you going?'

Max had stood up and walked towards the door, opening it and hitting it as hard as he could back.

Samedi | 01:33

'-and then she said she was not going to leave him.'

Max had called Maya to his apartment, because he had spent the rest of the hours overthinking and crying. Now that she was here, he had rest his head on her lap and the tears came falling like the Niagara waterfalls. Too much emotions bottled up inside him and all of them broke loose.

Ofcourse, when he had ended up at home there was one person he immediately thought of calling. But after he abandoned her at the restaurant without explanation, he knew that she did not want to see him. In fact, he did not even want to see himself either.

'Max,' Maya had finally begun to speak, as she slowly put her hands on his back and caressed him. Max felt comfortable in her arms, not in a romantic way, but purely as his best friend.

'Block him, delete his number, tell your mother that you aren't going back until he sorts himself out. There is not really another-'

'He will never sort himself out.' Max's tears kept coming and his stomach felt like puking a whole lot more tears. 

'He's a dick yeah you made that pretty clear.'

'But hey, at least you were at home when he texted, that way you could quickly go there in case it was an actual emergency, right?'

Max had not told Maya that he was with Tiff the moment Louis had texted him. He said he was at home. 

At the same time, he was tired of his bottled emotions and, as he was crying anyway, felt like letting it loose. If he was going to tell anyone, it had to be Maya.

'But I was not at ho-'

Maya interrupted him. 'Lola's calling me, shit..'

'Shit?' Max got up. 'You two okay?'

'Yes, but she thinks I'm at home and she may have gone there right now.. she does not have a key.'

'Oh,' that was all Max could get off himself.

Maya got off his bed and grabbed her bag, as she put on her shoes. 'Sorry Max,' as she looked in his eyes. 'I need to give her the key. Want me to come back here though? Or should I text her to come here with the three of us?'

He was definitely not in the mood for that.

'No, eh, you can go. Thanks for your help.'

'Anytime!' she walked over to give him a hug. 'Well, call me if you feel like it, promise?'

'Promise,' he answered, as he waved her goodbye.

With Maya gone, he laid down on his bed, with his head on his pillow.

An idea came to him, an idea he should've done earlier.

Opening his phone, he immediately went to Instagram and to _her_ profile. 

With a very deep sigh, he started to type.

_Hey Tiff, I want to apologize for last evening. It was my stepdad who texted me that I had to urgently go to my mom and him, and he did not even explain why. I should not have left you without an explanation and I regret it immensely. If we can do it again, I would be happy to._

As he clicked on send, he wondered if she would forgive him or not. It was a terrible move on his part; if a girl did that to him, he would also feel like shit.

_notification_

_Everything okay there?_

Fuck, he had not said how it ended. Max wanted to punch himself, as he had wanted to do a lot of times in the past few days since he met Tiff.

_It is a long story, but I am home now. My stepdad is just a giant asshole, that's it._

_I wish I could give you a hug right now, Max._

I wish I could give you a hug right now, Max.

Those words suddenly cleared his mind and felt like the water he needed for the rage fire in his entire body. He felt calm. 

Looking back at the texts, he mentally agreed, but secretly, wished she would give her more than a hug.

_I wish I could give you a hug too, how about later today?_

_Sorry, I don't have time this weekend. We'll see monday, okay?_

Not the answer he wanted, but it didn't matter. She already saved his day, without even knowing it.

Samedi | 10:33

'So what are you guys doing,?' Jo had asked. La Mif was hanging out in a small park, where Maya and Bilal sat opposite each other at a table, a chessboard in front.

Max may not know all the rules of chess, but he could see that Maya was clearly winning. 

'We are playing the beautiful art of chess,' Bilal responded. 'And I'm winning.'

'In your dreams perhaps,' Maya laughed. 'You do realize you can't move the king more than spaces at once, right?'

'Yes you can! It's a king!' 

'Oh you!' Maya was laughing so hard that the table started shaking.

'Ho! Watch out guys!' Redouane grabbed Bilal by his shoulder. 'Go get her, we men have to show dominance!'

'That is misogynistic,' Maya gave him a very death glare. 'Don't you dare.'

'Come on Max, don't you agree?'

'Don't bring me into this!'

Jo gestured Max to go to her, she had sat down at a tree together with Lola, who was reading a book, something he had never thought she would ever do.

'I found a girl for you-'

'Jo, please..' This was the first time he was not excited about someone Jo had suggested for him. Usually, she gave good suggestions and he got hope, but his mind was busy with someone else right now.

'What?' Even Lola glared up. 

'I don't want to date right now,' he explained, as he sat next to them. 'That's it.'

'Oh you!' Jo gave him a pat. 'I know what your thing is.'

'My thing?'

'You're into someone else!'

Max shook his head. 'Listen-'

'JO COME HERE!' Maya had screamed. 'THEY ARE CHEATING!'

Jo stood up, and gave a glare to Max. 'This conversation is not over!' She hopped over to join Maya, Redouane and Bilal.

Lola had been examining Max the entire time. Max noticed and felt uncomfortable.

'What?'

'Is that why you asked me that question thursday?'

'Which one?'

'Okay, well, forget it,' she went back to her book.

'No, now I'm curious, tell me.'

She put her book down and stared Max right in the eye.

Finally, she said it.

'Are you in love with Tiff?'


End file.
